Suki was the eldest member and leader of the all-female Kyoshi Warriors of the Earth Kingdom's Kyoshi Island. Having begun her training when she was only eight years old, Suki was well-respected by her fellow warriors for her leadership and combat skills.[4] When Team Avatar arrived on Kyoshi Island, Suki and a few other Kyoshi Warriors captured them, thinking they were Fire Nation spies. Later, after realizing Aang was the Avatar, they released and befriended them, with Suki in particular forming a bond with Sokka.[1]

Inspired by the outsiders for helping save their village from PrinceZuko, Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors left the island to help the Earth Kingdom fight against the Fire Nation. Suki protected the Avatar's lost sky bison, Appa, from falling into the enemy's hands, but she and the other Kyoshi Warriors were defeated by Princess Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee.[5]

Imprisoned in the Fire Nation, Suki was placed within a high-security prison. It was only by good fortune that Sokka and Zuko infiltrated the facility looking for Sokka's captured father, Hakoda, and instead found Suki.[6] Freed from captivity,[7] Suki later helped Aang and friends defeat the Fire Nation and eventually reunited with her fellow Kyoshi Warriors.[8]

Contents

History

Early life

Suki lived and grew up on Kyoshi Island. She began her Kyoshi Warrior training at the age of eight,[9] and became a master in tessenjutsu, the art of fan combat.

Meeting Team Avatar

Suki and her fellow Kyoshi Warriors captured Aang and his friends for intruding on Kyoshi Island, assuming they were Fire Nation spies. Suki interrogated the group, threatening to throw Sokka to the unagi after he made a sexist comment about being kidnapped by a "bunch of girls". Once they learned that Aang was the Avatar, however, she and the village quickly accepted them as guests. Initially offended by Sokka's somewhat chauvinistic attitude, she paid him back by repeatedly humiliating him in combat training. She later even forced him to dress in full female warrior garb when he asked to train with her, but she was eventually attracted to him once he admitted his mistake. The two bonded over sparring matches and, before parting, she kissed Sokka on the cheek, telling him that even though she was a warrior, she was also a girl.[1] She and the other warriors of Kyoshi, inspired by Sokka particularly, later departed the island to fight in the Hundred Year War against the Fire Nation.[10]

100 AG

The Serpent's Pass

Suki and the other Kyoshi Warriors had been assisting refugees on their way to Ba Sing Se. They decided not to return to Kyoshi Island and, in hopes of making a difference in the war, acted as security guards at a hidden ferry terminal. It was at this terminal that she met Aang, Katara, and Sokka again. Suki approached Sokka, aggressively asking to see their tickets and passports. After some heated exchange, she kissed Sokka, after which he realized who she was. When Aang decided to escort a group of stranded travelers through the Serpent's Pass, Suki accompanied them to ensure that they made it through safely, which concerned Sokka. Suki rescued Toph at one point, saving her from drowning. Toph proceeded to kiss Suki on the cheek, thinking that it was Sokka who saved her. It was during the night that her feelings for Sokka were made more clear, though he was reluctant to jump into a relationship with her due to his inability to stop PrincessYue giving her life to save the Moon Spirit during the Siege of the North.[11] At one point during the night, Suki went to kiss him, but Sokka was reluctant to do so under the moon, as it reminded him of Yue, and put Suki off without an explanation. Before her departure, she apologized to him, telling him she had acted rashly, but Sokka stopped her, and immediately made up for the previous night by kissing her back.[12]

Finding Appa

Later, she and a group of Kyoshi Warriors discovered an injured Appa, who was attempting to reunite with Aang after being kidnapped. After calming the jittery sky bison, she and the other warriors tended to Appa and cleaned him up. She prepared to return him to Aang; however, she was confronted by Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee. The Kyoshi Warriors and Azula fought a short duel, and Suki reluctantly drove Appa away with a burning branch to keep him safe, before clashing with Azula.[5] She was eventually defeated, captured and sent to the Fire Nation as a prisoner, along with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors.[13] After the guards discovered Suki's identity as the leader she was sent to the Fire Nation's highest security prison, the Boiling Rock.[6] After the defeat of the Kyoshi Warriors, Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee disguised themselves with their uniforms to infiltrate the Earth King's palace.[14]

Escape from the Boiling Rock

Suki was found by Sokka, who had initially sneaked in along with Zuko in the hopes of finding his father.[6] Contrary to Azula's claims, she had never given up on hopes of rescue and happily embraced Sokka upon reunion, readily joining the breakout plans. When Sokka decided to remain behind in hopes of finding his father, she chose to stay behind with him, risking imprisonment again. When the group started a riot to cover their escape, Suki quickly captured the prison warden. When Azula and Ty Lee attacked the group on the prison gondolas, Suki fought with Ty Lee, calling it "a rematch [she had] been waiting for", and held her off effectively. She and the rest of the escapees returned to the Western Air Temple via Azula's airship.[7]

Traveling with Team Avatar

Suki chose to remain with the core group in the Fire Nation when Azula's attack split them up. When Zuko went to Sokka's tent to ask him about his mother, he collided with Suki, who suspiciously denied her true intention of seeing Sokka and rushed back to her tent. When Zuko entered the tent, it was apparent that Sokka was waiting to have a romantic evening with Suki, but was surprised and embarrassed to see Zuko instead. After Zuko left the tent, Sokka called out to Suki and, seeing Zuko was still there, whistled guiltily to make him go away.[15]

Suki later donned a Fire Nation disguise and accompanied Team Avatar to the play, "The Boy in the Iceberg". In the play, her character was portrayed most accurately, though some physical details, like her headpiece, were slightly exaggerated. During the play, she exchanged looks with Sokka during the scene where they practiced using Kyoshi Warrior outfits and acted jealous when Sokka shushed her during the scene where Yue became the Moon Spirit. When Sokka desired to sneak backstage to help out the actor playing him, Suki assisted him, saying that her years of training in the art of stealth should help. Sokka showed his jokes to actor Sokka, which caused Suki to hit herself on the head. Contrary to her original thoughts, however, actor Sokka found the jokes funny, and used them in the next scenes. Suki called the play horrible and never referred to it again in the series.[16]

Sozin's Comet

Three days prior to the arrival of Sozin's Comet, Suki and the rest of Team Avatar held a beach party on Ember Island. Sokka created a crude sand sculpture of Suki that bore no resemblance to her, but she said that she thought it was sweet of him, resulting in him kissing her. When Zuko informed the group of the Fire Lord's plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom, Aang ran off, and Suki aided in the search for him.[17] When they were unable to find Aang, Zuko took them to the Earth Kingdom, where they "hired" June to track him with her giant shirshu, Nyla. When she was unable to, he decided to track Iroh, leading the group to Ba Sing Se, where they were approached by the Order of the White Lotus. It was decided that Suki, Sokka and Toph would destroy the airship fleet. Sokka drove one airship into the others, bringing them down. In the process, Suki was separated from her friends as the airship fell apart underneath them. She insisted that Sokka carry onward with the mission.[18]

Suki steered a captured airship into the vessel Sokka and Toph were on, saving them from certain death.

Suki went on to manipulate the rudder of the airship she had fallen onto, thereby taking control of the entire vessel. Noticing Toph and Sokka hanging helplessly from another airship, she saved the two by steering her captured aircraft into the other vessel. After Aang had removedOzai's firebending, the reunited group landed the captured airship and began to taunt the fallen tyrant. Suki also made a lame attempt to do so, earning Toph's criticism of her, "Leave the nicknames to us, honey."[8]

After Zuko was crowned Fire Lord and officially ended the War, Suki finally reunited with her team of warriors, who were released from prison along with Mai and Ty Lee. After discovering how well her team bonded with Ty Lee while in prison, Suki allowed her to join them. Later, the entire gang were relaxing at Iroh's tea shop in Ba Sing Se, where Suki played Pai Sho with Mai. She later teased Sokka for his crude drawing of the group, which depicted Suki firebending.[8]

101 AG

A year after the end of the Hundred Year War, Mai asked Suki and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors to protect the Fire Nation Royal Palace after a failed attempt to murder Fire Lord Zuko by Kori. The first night they were standing guard, Zuko woke up in the middle of the night and went outside. Suki told him it had been quiet all night, to which Zuko apologized saying that he did trust the Kyoshi Warriors as they were the best guardsmen in the world. Suki suggested that he to go back to sleep, however, when Zuko said he was going to get a drink of water, she asked him if needed someone to escort, which the Fire Lord rejected in order to visit his father in prison.[19]

Out of concern, Suki later secretly followed Zuko on one of his late night trips to see what he was up to and to know whether or not the Kyoshi Warriors could be of some assistance. However, after she found out he left to talk to Ozai, Suki told Mai about Zuko's nightly journeys, asking her to speak with him in hopes of helping him. However, when Mai broke up with him during this talk, Suki felt guilty and confessed that she had been following Zuko. She apologized to Zuko and, while kneeling before the Fire Lord, told him that the Kyoshi Warriors were worried about him and that she, especially, was worried about him as well and reached out for his hand before being interrupted by General Mak.[20]

On the day of the battle for Yu Dao, Suki traveled to the Beifong Metalbending Academy in a Fire Nation war balloon to get Toph and Sokka's help, explaining that she discovered their location when Kunyo complained to the Fire Lord about a "dirt girl" and a "snow savage" taking over his school. Suki convinced Toph and Sokka to come with her to try and stop the Fire Nation Army from reaching Yu Dao, explaining her plan to them after landing near the military procession. On Sokka's orders, Toph earthbent an underground slide that took them directly under one of the tundra tanks, and the trio quickly seized control of the tank. Suki expressed her feelings of concern for Zuko's well-being, stating that he seemed lonely. However, despite her desire to speak to him, she received no chance, eventually joining the fight against the Fire Nation with Toph at her side. Just as the duo were starting to become overwhelmed, Toph's metalbending students suddenly arrived to come to their aid.[21]

102 AG

Suki explained to Zuko that she was glad about his return to a more upbeat persona.

Suki traveled back to the Fire Nation with Zuko, and stood guard at Azula and Ozai's prison cell together with Ty Lee. She showed great concern for Zuko when he entered the cell, and was quick to help the Fire Lord when his sister attacked him. She was reluctant to leave him alone with her afterward, wanting to escort them both back to the palace, but was dismissed.

The next day, she met up with Sokka, who had also traveled to the palace with Aang and Katara upon Zuko's inquiry. She was just in time to prevent her boyfriend and the Avatar from launching an attack on an unbound Azula, telling them to be patient and to allow Zuko to explain. While the Fire Lord did so, Suki passionately reunited with her boyfriend.

The following day, she watched as Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, and Azula departed atop Appa toward Hira'a, remaining behind with Iroh. When the interim Fire Lord commented that he did not really feel at home, Suki asked if there was something she could do to make it better for him, though all Iroh needed was more tea.[22]

Visiting San's House of Seashells

After warning him to let go, Suki easily defeated the uncompromising Jojan.

Suki traveled with Sokka after his return from Hira'a to a Fire Nation marketplace, where the two visited Seashell San's House of Shells. She did not realize her boyfriend was into seashells and, upon being told he had a collection he began as a young boy, she asked why she had not seen this. Sokka quickly corrected himself, saying he wanted to be a collector since that point. As she looked around the store, Suki grew skeptical at San's claim that the shells were rare, though giggled at Sokka when he was briefly duped into believing the shells, valued at fifteen ban for one, were on special at two for thirty, calling him a goof in the process. When a girl, Giya, entered the store, San and Jojan believed her to be a fake collector and the former discouraged her from buying shells, prompting Suki to ask if there was a problem. When sternly told by San to mind her own business, she angrily replied that he should treat his customers with respect. The Kyoshi Warrior was grabbed by Jojan in an attempt to remove her from the store, but she began to squirm away, warning the associate to let go. After he did not do so, she flipped him onto the ground. When San tried to attack with firebending, she first sweetly told Sokka she did not need help and kissed him on the cheek as a thanks for offering, before grabbing San and blocking his chi. The couple left the store, though not before Suki told Jojan to keep his hands off someone who told him to do as such.

After they left, Suki and Sokka caught up with Giya, introducing herself and Sokka and wanting to make sure she was okay. She was asked how she learned to fight like that, though she playfully chastised Sokka for bragging that she was a Kyoshi Warrior. A confused Giya said she thought they all wore face paint, but Suki replied that they only did so on duty. The young woman sadly spoke of her desire to be as strong as the warriors because a lot of "jerks" hung out in the marketplace. The warrior offered to teach her self-defense, but when an unconfident Giya began to take off, Suki began telling her the story of the Kyoshi Warriors' founding; during Avatar Kyoshi's time, there was a marketplace on Kyoshi Island where undesirable individuals hung out as well. She explained that Kyoshi would deal with these people and offer the women how to defend themselves. Within a few years, these ordinary women banded together as the Avatar's disciples and became the first Kyoshi Warriors. Her story complete, the warrior told Giya that the strength she needed was a learned ability. After the girl accepted her offer and brought along some of her friends, Suki, dressed in her Kyoshi Warrior uniform, began teaching them the ways of her group.[23]

Personality

Self-confident and tough, Suki mocked Sokka because of his chauvinist attitude.

Befitting her status as leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, Suki was tough, assertive, and not afraid to speak her mind; but at the same time, she had a compassionate and loyal spirit. Her softer side was frequently demonstrated in the presence of Sokka. For a long time during her imprisonment, Suki held out the hope of seeing Sokka again and showed no sign of breaking in the face of Azula's torments pertaining to Sokka.[13] She also had a mild tendency to hold grudges, demonstrated by her initially treating Zuko coldly when they met in prison and readily looking forward to a rematch with Azula and Ty Lee. A woman of action, she quickly and skillfully captured the prison warden, an action that prompted approval from Hakoda.[7]

Abilities

Despite not being a bender, Suki was more than capable of handling herself in a fight. She was the last warrior to be captured by Azula, showing the extent of her skill.[5] She was an impressive hand-to-hand combatant, using a style reminiscent of Aikido, as well as fighting with traditional Kyoshi war fans, a style reminiscent of Tessenjutsu, and skilled with the katana. She could hold her own against other skilled fighters, such as Ty Lee, readily avoiding her disabling pressure point strikes, and was a good teacher, passing some of her fighting methods on to Sokka. She also possessed considerable physical strength, able to swim easily in full Kyoshi Warrior armor and toss aside a full grown man with ease. During the breakout of the Boiling Rock, she bypassed a full-scale riot by jumping across the tops of the rioters' heads, scaled the vertical face of a building, demonstrating a skill set similar to that found in parkour, and an acrobatic skill comparable to that of Ty Lee. Following the Hundred Year War, Suki learned chi blocking from Ty Lee. She demonstrated the skill for the first time on San.[23]

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Trivia

Jessica Jade Andres was given the role of Suki in M. Night Shyamalan's film adaptation, The Last Airbender. She and the Kyoshi Warriors were cut from the movie because Shyamalan believed that he was inadvertently letting the movie revolve around the warriors. In order to correct this, they were removed entirely. However, they are present in the movie novelization, manga, and video game, all of which were released before the warriors were officially cut from the film.

It was revealed that Sokka never told Suki the whole story about Yue.[16] However, he did mention Yue to her, using the incident that happened to justify his overprotective nature.[12]

By the end of the series, Suki remained the only human member of Team Avatar not to have gone on a "field trip" with Zuko.

Suki was originally supposed to be one of the characters who would never appear again after "The Warriors of Kyoshi", but due to her popularity among both the staff and fans, she returned for Books Two and Three, and officially became a member of Team Avatar.[24]

As Suki was the eldest of the Kyoshi Warriors, she was in charge of training the younger warriors.[4]

Suki's name in the Russian version of Avatar: The Last Airbender is pronounced as "su'juki" in the first two seasons and as "zuki" in the third season. This was done to avoid the original pronunciation "suki" because it sounds the same as Russian word "суки", which translates to a swear word.